William h



2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

W. H. SAWYER.

MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC GABLES.

Patented Nov 14, 1882.

hMo-Ulhngnphen Washington D. (I.

(No-Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. H. SAWYER. MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF EL'EGTRIG GABLES. No.267,597. Patented Nov. 14, 1882.

lilllll N. PETERS. PhnwLiihogrzphar. \Vnlhingtnn. D. C.

UNITED STATES ATENT rrice.

WILLIAM H. SAWYER, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

MACHINE. FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC CABLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,597, dated November14, 1882,

Application filed February 20. 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SAWYER, a citizen of Providence, residingat Providence, in the county of Providence and State ofIthode Island,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for theManufacture of Electric Cables; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the let-7 ters and figures of reference marked thereon,

which form a part of this specification.

Myinvention relates to a machine for the manufacture of an improvedelectrical cable composed of several insulated conductingwires, each ofwhich is provided with a metallic sheath for protecting it from theinductive influence of the other wires.

The improved cable which my machine is intended to produce I intend tomake the subject of a separate application for patent; but a descriptionof it here is necessary to the full understanding of my improvedmachine. The cable consists of an assemblage of insulated wires, each ofwhich is provided with a longitudinal wrapper or sheath formed of astrip of pliable sheet metal folded around the wire and having its edgeslapped on one side thereof, said wires being twisted together,with thelap-joints of their metallic coverings on their 'inner surfaces andconcealed from view.

Instead of covering all the wires with separate metallic sheaths beforetwisting them together, I may leave one of said wires without a metallicsheath and give it acentral position with respect to the others, which Itwist around it, so that the sheathings of all the other wires come incontact with the central wire, and thus give it a complete metalliccovering, which has the effect of preventing induction between thecentral and outer wires.

My improved machine consists in a novel combination of devices forplacing the metallic sheaths upon the wires and twisting said wirestogether into a cable, so that thejoints of the sheaths of therespective wires will all be turned inwardly, or toward the center ofthe cable, as will be hereinafter more particularly described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a View of a portion ofmyimproved cable having three wires. Fig.2 is a cross-section of thesame enlarged. Fig. 3 is a view ofa modiview of a revolving platformhaving an additional reel for a central wire.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the metal-covered insulated wires of thecable areindicated by the letters A A A. The letters I) b I) indicatethe insulation of the wires proper, and c c c the metallic sheathing,composed of thin strips of sheet metal, preferably tin-foil, one ofwhich is folded longitudinally around each Wire, outside of itsinsulating-covering, and

the edges of its strip ineetin a joint along one 7 side of the wire.Vhen the wires are twisted together the joints of the respective stripsare turned inwardly, or toward the center of the cable, which iscomposed of the twisted wires.

The number of wires may be increased as desired.

Referring to Fig. 8, which illustrates a modified form of the cable, theletter D indicates a central wire, which is not provided with a separatemetallic sheath, butis so surrounded 8 v outer wires are turnedinwardly, so that thecoilo ing of the wires will brace them againstrupture, and they will be shielded from disarrangement by the contact ofthe cable with outside objects.

Referring to Fig. 5, which is a side elevation 5 of the machine formanufacturing my improved cable, the letter F indicates the frame-work,and Gris a revolving platform mounted upon the top of a vertical shaft,H, which has its upper bearing in a cross-beam, I, and its lowerroobearing in a crossbeam, 1. Between its upper and lower bearings thisshaft carries a Fig. 7 6O bevel-gear wheel, k, which meshes withabevelpinion, 1, upon the end of a shaft, m, journaled in suitablebearings and provided with the fast and loose pulleys n and a.

Upon the upper surface of the horizontal revolving platform G aremounted three reels, 1% It R, which are for carrying the wires, whichare to be covered with sheet metal and twisted into a cable. Upon saidplatform are also mounted the reels S S S, for carrying the metallicstrips which are to be folded upon the wires.

Immediately above the reels It and S, and concentrically with respect totheir relative positions, is arranged a guide-plate, T, supported bystandards a, the lower ends of which are screwed to the platform. Thisguide-plate is provided with three slits, t t I, (see Fig. 7,) at equaldistances apart and facing a common center, these slits being guides forthe metallic strips, and outside of these slits guide-passages t t t areformed for the wires.

At a little distance above the guide-plate T is arranged thefolding-plate V, supported by extensions of the same standards a. Thecenter of the folding-plate is in line with the center of theguide-plate, and about this center are formed three downwardly-flarin gor conical passages, 12, at equal distances apart and from the center ofthe plate. The upper ends of these passages are slightly inclined towardthe center, about which they are arranged, so that the outer portions ofthe walls of the passages have a somewhat greater inclination than theinnerportions, in order that they may easily guide the wires and stripstogether for twisting as they approach each other in inclined directionsfrom the reels.

A reel may be arranged in any convenient location to take up the cableas made, the cable being passed to such a reel over guide-rollers orpulleys in the usual manner, requiring no particular description, andthe speed of the take-up reel being regulated by any suitable means togive the twist of the cable the desired pitch.

The upper ends of the flaring passages o in the folding-plate are ofsuch diameter as to permit the wires to pass freely through, with themetal strips folded around them, and said plate may be replaced byothers having passages of proper size for any size of wires and stripsthat are to be used. The machine may be constructed for a cable of anynumber of wires.

In using the machine as now described the reels R R R, filled with thewires to be covered, are placed upon their supportingstandards and thewires led up therefrom separately through the guide-apertures t in theguide plate T. When one of the wires is passed through itsguide-aperture the end of a metallic strip from the reel S to the rightof it is passed up through the guide-slit t in front of the wire. Thestrip is then folded neatly around the wire, and the wire and strip arethus passed upthrough the nearest flaring passage in the folding-plate.After all the wires and strips are thus passed through the folding-platethe partiallysheathed wires are drawn up far enough to enable them to betwisted together, this twisting being performed by hand, and care beingtaken that the joints of the sheathing-strips are all turned inwardly ortoward the center of the cable. The end of the cable, as thus twisted byhand, is then made fast to a take-up reel (not shown in the drawiugs)and the driving-beltof the machine shifted from the loose to the fastpulley on the driving-shaft m. The machine is thus put in operation, theplatform G revolving in the direction of the arrow marked thereon, andthe take-up reel should be put in motion at the same time to wind up thecable. The wires and foil strips pass from the reels R and S through theguide and folding plates, the conical passages in the folding-platecausing the metal strips to be folded snugly around the wires with theirjoints outward; but as the platform turns the wires are twisted togetherafter leaving the folding-plate, and so turned in the act of twistingthat the coils are all laid snugly together, with the joints of theirsheathing-strips turned inwardlyand thus concealed.

Then a central wire is to be used, as here inbefore described, therevolving platform G is provided with a central reel, R, as shown inFig. 10, and the guide-plate T and foldingplate V are provided withcentral guide-apertures, as shown at t and v in Figs. 7 and 8,respectively. Theccntral wireis drawn through these guideapertures fromits reel, and the outer sheathed wires are coiled around the centralwire, with the joints of their sheathingstrips inward.

1 am aware that in machines for manufacturing electric cables arevolving frame fixed upon a hollow shaft has been provided with spoolsor reels mounted on spindles and arranged to deliver wires which arewound spirally around the cable as it passes through said hollow shaft,and I do not claim such a device; nor do I claim broadly a series ofreels arranged to deliver wires to guides, and devices for sheathingsaid wires and forming them into a cable, as such a combination ofdevices was known prior to my invention; nor do I claim the combinationof reels for delivering a wire and metal strip with a guide or guidesfor folding the strip around the wire, such combination being old andwell known.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1. Thecombination of the platform provided with reels, as described, theguide-plates having perforations for wires and passages for metallicstrips, the folding-plate having passages for the wires and strips, andmeans for revolving said platform, and the guide and folding plates,substantially as described.

2. The combination of the platform G and means for revolving the same,the reels R and S, mounted on said platform, guide-plate '1, providedwith slits t and apertures t, and the folding-plate V, provided with theflaring fold- 5 ing-passages Q), said guide and folding plates beingconnected to and adapted to revolve with the platform, substantially asdescribed.

WILLIAM H. SAWYER.

Witnesses:

GILMAN E. J OPP, THOMAS A. LAKE.

